Removable hole cover for golf green

ABSTRACT

A removable hole cover for golf greens includes a generally disk-shaped spacer received within the interior of the hole assembly. The spacer provides a support surface upon which a plug of artificial turf is supported. The spacer is sized and shaped to position and support the plug of artificial turf in general alignment with the turf surrounding the golf hole assembly. In an alternate embodiment, a molded plastic cover includes a cylindrical body receivable within the upper portion of the golf hole assembly and a generally disk-shaped cover joined thereto.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims the benefit of and priority under 35 U.S.C. 119(e) of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/269,378 entitled GOLF HOLE COVER filed Jun. 24, 2009 in the name of Johnny W. Graves, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates generally to apparatus and facilities utilized in the sport of golf and particularly to the utilization of golf greens.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The sport of golf is typically played on a course comprised of a plurality of “holes” each of which includes a tee or starting point, a fairway stretching from the tee and a green which includes a hole forming the ultimate goal of traversing the particular hole. The tee is, in essence, the starting point for a given hole and players take their initial shots from the tee with the ultimate goal of reaching the hole on the green. The fairway is generally a large, often wide and elongated grassy pathway extending from the tee to the green. The green forms the end of the particular hole and is typically a smaller area which is carefully maintained to provide a smooth putting turf. The green further includes a hole positioned upon the green which forms the end target for the players.

Greens are usually formed in a generally flat or gently undulating surface which supports a very fine bladed turf maintained and manicured to provide a smooth carpet-like turf area. The hole within the green is usually a cylindrical receptacle extending into the soil of the green having an upper edge slightly below the surrounding turf. A bottom grate is positioned within the cylindrical receptacle and is operative to catch and hold a ball putted into the hole in order to enable a player to retrieve it. In most if not all golf holes, the grate accommodates a small diameter receptacle which receives the bottom end of a flagpole in a removable attachment.

While the majority of golf courses utilize natural turf for the green surfaces, certain courses may, alternatively, provide greens having an artificial turf rather than natural turf. Artificial turf generally comprises a plastic or polymer material carpet-like surfacing which emulates the close cropped smooth surface of a natural turf green.

In addition to greens utilized on golf courses, so-called practice green are also popular in connection with golf courses, parks and individual homeowners. The latter often have multiuse areas within the homeowner's yard which function as practice putting surfaces and conventional lawn recreation areas. Often practice greens provided by golf course owners, parks, or individual homeowners utilize a plurality of golf holes placed about the practice green surface. The multiple use character of practice greens, particularly those having a plurality of holes, gives rise to a potential difficulty during conventional lawn recreational activities. The unused golf green holes have proven to be inconvenient and, in some instances, unsafe during more conventional lawn recreation activities.

There arises, therefore, a need in the art for a low cost, effective and reliable apparatus for avoiding the problems presented by golf holes in a multiuse putting green surface.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, it is a general object of the present invention to provide an improved apparatus for use in a putting green, practice green or multiuse lawn surface which include one or more golf holes therein. It is a more particular object of the present invention to provide improved apparatus for covering unused golf holes in such greens or multiuse surfaces.

In accordance with the present invention, there is provided for use in combination with golf hole having a generally cylindrical housing set into a green to form an upwardly open golf hole for receiving a ball, a removable hole cover comprising: a hole cover body sized and shaped to be received within an upwardly open golf hole; and a hole cover top support supported upon the hole cover body and providing an top surface to cover and conceal a golf hole. From another perspective of the present invention, for use in combination with a golf hole having a generally cylindrical housing set into a green surface to form an upwardly open golf hole for receiving a ball, a removable hole cover comprising; a downwardly extending body sized and shaped to be receivable into a golf hole; and a top cover defining a top surface joined to the body and having an outer edge extending beyond the body, the removable hole cover being receivable upon a golf hole such that the body is received within the generally cylindrical housing thereof and the top cover rest upon and covers the upwardly open golf hole. In a still further aspect of the present invention provides for use in combination with a golf hole having a generally cylindrical housing set into a green surface to form an upwardly open golf hole for receiving a ball, a removable hole cover comprising; a downwardly extending body sized and shaped to be receivable into a golf hole; and a top cover defining a top surface joined to the body and having an outer edge extending beyond the body, the removable hole cover being receivable upon a golf hole such that the body is received within the generally cylindrical housing thereof and the top cover rest upon and covers the upwardly open golf hole.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The features of the present invention, which are believed to be novel, are set forth with particularity in the appended claims. The invention, together with further objects and advantages thereof, may best be understood by reference to the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in the several figures of which like reference numerals identify like elements and in which:

FIG. 1 sets forth a perspective view of a conventional putting green surface and hole supporting a typical hole flag;

FIG. 2 sets forth a section view of the putting green hole shown in FIG. 1 having the lower portion of a flagpole received therein;

FIG. 3 sets forth a section view of the hole shown in FIG. 2 having the flag removed and the present invention hole cover secured thereto;

FIG. 4 sets forth a top plan view of a golf hole prior to insertion of the present invention hole covers;

FIG. 5 sets forth a top plan view of the hole shown in FIG. 4 having the initial element of the present invention apparatus secured therein;

FIG. 6 sets forth a partial section view of a golf hole and an alternate embodiment of the present invention hole cover secured thereto;

FIG. 7 sets forth a perspective assembly view of the present invention hole cover in combination with a golf hole showing alternative embodiment assemblies therein; and

FIG. 8 sets forth a section view of a still further alternate embodiment of the present invention hole cover.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION

FIG. 1 sets forth a perspective view of an illustrative golf green generally referenced by numeral 10. In accordance with conventional fabrication techniques, golf green 10 includes a green surface 12 within which a hole assembly 11 is imbedded. In accordance with conventional fabrication techniques, a flag 13 is removably inserted into hole assembly 11 and supported in the manner set forth below in FIG. 2. Of importance to note in FIG. 1, is the general alignment between the upper portion of hole assembly 11 and green surface 12. This facilitates the typical golf game play in which a ball is putted against green surface 12 and is dropped or rolled into hole assembly 11. Typically flag 13 is removed from hole assembly 11 as players attempt to put into hole assembly 11. As mentioned above, green surface 12 is formed of either a natural turf which is typically formed utilizing a very close cropped fine-bladed grass to form a carpet-like surface or alternatively, comprises an artificial turf fabricated of a plastic or other polymer material to closely replicate a natural turf surface.

FIG. 2 sets forth a section view of hole assembly 11 supported within golf green 10. In accordance with conventional fabrication techniques, hole assembly 11 is imbedded into the underlying supporting ground beneath green surface 12 to form a downwardly extending hole into which a golf ball readily falls.

More specifically, hole assembly 11 includes a generally cylindrical housing 20 extending downwardly and defining an upper edge thereof. Hole assembly 11 further includes a webbed grate 22 having an outer periphery secured to the interior surface of cylindrical housing 20. A cylindrical pole receptacle 23 is formed in the center of webbed grate 22. Hole assembly 11 is surrounded by green surface 12, which as mentioned above, may be fabricated of a synthetic or artificial turf. In such case, a turf base 15 formed of a fabric material defines an aperture 14 within which cylindrical body housing 20 is received. Green surface 12 further includes an upwardly extending multi-bladed nap 16 which is supported by turf base 15 and which is fabricated to resemble natural turf.

In accordance with conventional operation mentioned above, flag pole 13 is inserted into hole assembly 11 such that the lower end of pole 13 is received within pole receptacle 23. Thus, FIG. 2 shows a section view of a golf hole assembly having the flag pole in place and configured for use in a golf game.

FIG. 3 sets forth the section view of the hole assembly shown in FIG. 2 and generally referenced by numeral 11 within which the present invention hole cover has been installed. By way of overview, comparison of FIGS. 2 and 3 reveals that in the configuration of FIG. 3, flag pole 13 has been removed and the present invention hole cover has been installed. In this configuration, golf green 10 (seen in FIG. 1) is now configured for general recreation use of green surface 12 as a typical lawn surface rather than a golf green.

More specifically, hole assembly 11 includes a generally cylindrical housing 20 extending downwardly and defining an upper edge thereof. Hole assembly 11 further includes a webbed grate 22 having an outer periphery secured to the interior surface of cylindrical housing 20. A cylindrical pole receptacle 23 is formed in the center of webbed grate 22. Hole assembly 11 is surrounded by green surface 12, which as mentioned above, may be fabricated of a synthetic or artificial turf. In such case, a turf base 15 formed of a fabric material defines an aperture 14 within which cylindrical body housing 20 is received. Green surface 12 further includes an upwardly extending multi-bladed nap 16 which is supported by turf base 15 and which is fabricated to resemble natural turf.

In accordance with the present invention, a spacer 30 having a downwardly extending wall 35 which defines a bottom edge 34 has been inserted into cylindrical housing 20. Bottom edge 34 rests upon webbed grate 22 and is supported thereby. Spacer 30 further includes an upper surface 31 which is generally planar and which extends to cover wall 35. Upper surface 31 preferably includes a pair of finger apertures 32 and 33 which function to provide convenient finger grips for inserting and removing spacer 30 from cylindrical housing 20.

In accordance with an important aspect of the present invention, the size of wall 35 is selected to position bottom edge 34 upon the outer periphery of webbed grate 22. The height of wall 35 is selected to position upper surface 31 beneath upper edge 21 of cylindrical housing 20. This provides a sufficient space for inserting a turf plug 36 into the upper portion of cylindrical housing 20. Turf plug 26 is preferably fabricated of a generally disk-shaped plug base 37 supporting a quantity of upwardly extending nap 38. In its preferred fabrication, the material of plug base 37 and nap 38 is selected to be as close in texture and color to turf base 13 and nap 16 as possible. Thus, with turf plug 36 resting upon upper surface 31 of spacer 30, hole assembly 11 is generally concealed and the appearance of green surface 12 resembles a continuous turf surface with little or no evidence indicating the existence of hole assembly 11. It will be further noted that spacer 30 is fabricated of sufficiently high strength material to support the weight of a person stepping upon turf plug 36. This strength of material is readily provided by conventional molded plastic materials or the like.

Hole assembly 11 may be reconfigured to the golf play configuration shown in FIG. 2 by simply lifting turf plug 36 from upper surface 31 and utilizing finger apertures 32 and 33 removing spacer 30 from cylindrical housing 20. Once spacer 30 and turf plug 36 have been removed, hole assembly 11 is returned to its golf play configuration.

FIG. 4 sets forth a top plan view of hole assembly 11 showing the structure of webbed grate 22 and cylindrical housing 20. As mentioned above, green surface 12 receives cylindrical housing 20 in an embedded installation in which nap 16 of green surface 12 generally surrounds cylindrical housing 20 forming a turf aperture 14 thereabout. As is also mentioned above, webbed grate 22 is supported within cylindrical housing 20 and defines a hole receptacle 23 at the center of the grate.

FIG. 5 sets forth the top plan view of hole assembly 11 shown in FIG. 4 in which spacer 30 has been placed into cylindrical housing 20. As mentioned above, spacer 30 defines an upper surface 31 which is generally planar and which extends to generally fill the interior of cylindrical housing 20. As is also mentioned above, upper surface 31 includes a pair of finger apertures 32 and 33 which are used to make insertion and removal of spacer 30 more easily accomplished.

FIG. 6 sets forth a partially sectioned view of an alternate embodiment of the present invention golf hole cover generally referenced by numeral 40. In the manner described above, a hole assembly substantially identical to hole assembly 11 shown in FIG. 2 includes a cylindrical housing 20 embedded into the supporting material of a golf green. Cylindrical housing 20 is surrounded by an artificial turf formed of a turf base 15 supporting a quantity of upwardly extending turf nap 16.

In accordance with the embodiment of the present invention shown in FIG. 6, a hole cover 40 includes a cylindrical body 41 received within the interior of cylindrical housing 20. Hole cover 40 further includes a generally disk-shaped top surface 42 which is joined to cylindrical body 41 and which includes an extending lip 43. In the preferred fabrication of the embodiment of the invention shown in FIG. 6, lip 43 extends beyond upper edge 21 of cylindrical housing 20. Also in accordance with the preferred fabrication of the present invention, top surface 42 includes an angled surface 44 which extends inwardly and upwardly from lip 43.

The extension of lip 43 beyond upper edge 21 of cylindrical housing 20 insures that hole cover 40 is sufficiently supported to sustain the weight of an individual standing upon hole cover 40. It is important to note an advantage of hole cover 40 is the avoidance of the need for a spacer which extends downwardly to the webbed grate of the hole assembly as is the case in the embodiment shown in FIG. 3. Thus, hole cover 40 is able to function and accommodate a variety of dimension variations for cylindrical housing 20.

In the preferred fabrication of the embodiment shown in FIG. 6, hole cover 40 may be fabricated of molded plastic or other material and may be formed of virtually any desired color.

FIG. 7 sets forth a perspective assembly view of cylindrical housing 20 receiving alternate installations of the embodiments of the present invention shown in FIGS. 3 and 6. Thus, cylindrical housing 20 defines an upper edge 21 and supports a webbed grate 22 within the cylindrical housing. Installation of the embodiment of the present invention shown in FIG. 3 is carried forward by installing spacer 30 into cylindrical housing 20 and thereafter placing turf plug 36 into cylindrical housing 20 so as to rest upon spacer 30 and provide the configuration shown in FIG. 3. Alternatively, hole cover 40 may be installed into cylindrical housing 20 to provide installation of the embodiment of the present invention shown in FIG. 6.

More specifically, spacer 30 includes a generally cylindrical sidewall 35 having a bottom edge 34. Spacer 30 further includes an upper surface 31 which defines a pair of finger apertures 33. Turf plug 36 includes a generally disk-shaped plug base 37 supporting a quantity of nap 38. Examination of FIG. 7 reveals that the shape of spacer 30 may be varied from the disk-like cylindrical shape shown in FIG. 7 without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. The shape of spacer 30 is thus not of critical importance. The guiding principle of fabricating spacer 30 is to provide a spacer which will rest upon webbed grate 22 and provide a supporting surface corresponding to upper surface 31 upon which turf plug 36 may rest. Thus, for example sidewall 35 may be faceted or square or even rectangular so long as upper surface 31 is supported.

Hole cover 40 is fabricated in accordance with the embodiment shown in FIG. 6 and includes a generally cylindrical body 41. Hole cover 40 further includes a top surface 42 which in turn defines an outer edge or lip 21 extending beyond cylindrical body 41. An angled surface 44 extends upwardly and inwardly from lip edge 21. Angled surface 44 provides a edge characteristic which avoids any tripping hazard which may be presented by a vertical sharp edge from lip 21. Angled surface 44 is in essence beveled to more readily blend in with the surface contours surrounding the hole assembly.

FIG. 8 sets forth a cross section view of a still further alternate embodiment of the present invention. For purposes of understanding, FIG. 8 and FIG. 3 may be compared. FIG. 8 and FIG. 3 illustrate different designs in which the depth of the hole assembly is varied by different fabricators. Fabricators may, for example, manufacture hole assemblies using metal, plastic or other material. Thus, it will be apparent that the hole assemblies shown in FIGS. 3 and 8 are substantially the same except for the depth of the cylindrical housing and the position of the webbed grate therein. By further comparison of FIGS. 3 and 8, it will be apparent that the embodiment of FIG. 8 utilizes a spacer having a substantially greater wall depth to accommodate the increased distance within the cylindrical housing at which the webbed grate is supported.

Returning to FIG. 8 specifically, a cylindrical housing 50 defines an upper edge 51 and is received within the surrounding surface of a golf green. Cylindrical housing 50 further supports a webbed grate 52 having a pole receptacle 53 formed therein. The surrounding golf green supports a quantity of artificial turf formed by a fabric base 72 and a synthetic material nap 71. Turf 70 generally encircles and surround cylindrical housing 50. In accordance with the present invention, a spacer 60 includes a downwardly extending cylindrical wall 61 which is sized to be received upon webbed grate 52. Spacer 60 includes a top surface 63 which defines finger apertures 64 and 65. While not seen in FIG. 8, it will be understood with reference to FIGS. 3 and 7 that the embodiment of FIG. 8 utilizes a turf plug such as turf plug 36 in FIG. 7 to be placed upon top surface 63 to complete the conversion of the golf hole to a plugged or covered configured.

What has been shown is a removable hole cover for a golf green which in its various embodiments provides ready and simple conversion of a practice green or putting green to an alternative surface in which the golf holes are covered and a continuous virtually uninterrupted lawn surface is created. Transformation between the putting green and lawn surface configurations is easy and may be performed quickly. The present invention hole cover is fabricated from relatively inexpensive molded plastic and/or artificial turf components.

While particular embodiments of the invention have been shown and described, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that changes and modifications may be made without departing from the invention in its broader aspects. Therefore, the aim in the appended claims is to cover all such changes and modifications as fall within the true spirit and scope of the invention. 

1. For use in combination with golf hole having a generally cylindrical housing set into a green to form an upwardly open golf hole for receiving a ball, a removable hole cover comprising: a hole cover body sized and shaped to be received within an upwardly open golf hole; and a hole cover top support supported upon said hole cover body and providing an top surface to cover and conceal a golf hole.
 2. The removable hole cover set forth in claim 1 wherein said hole cover body includes: a generally cylindrical body having a bottom edge and an upper surface, said hole cover body being sized to be received within a golf and to rest upon said bottom edge.
 3. The removable hole cover set forth in claim 2 wherein said hole cover support includes: a turf base; and a quantity of turf nap extending upwardly therefrom.
 4. The removable hole cover set forth in claim 3 wherein said upper surface defines a pair of spaced apart finger-grip apertures to aid removal and insertion of said hole cover body.
 5. The removable hole cover set forth in claim 1 wherein said hole cover body is generally cylindrical in shape and wherein said hole cover top support includes a generally circular planar member having a diameter greater than said hole cover body.
 6. For use in combination with a golf hole having a generally cylindrical housing set into a green surface to form an upwardly open golf hole for receiving a ball, a removable hole cover comprising; a downwardly extending body sized and shaped to be receivable into a golf hole; and a top cover defining a top surface joined to said body and having an outer edge extending beyond said body, said removable hole cover being receivable upon a golf hole such that said body is received within the generally cylindrical housing thereof and said top cover rest upon and covers the upwardly open golf hole.
 7. The removable hole cover set forth in claim 6 wherein said top cover further includes an angled surface extending inwardly and upwardly from said outer edge.
 8. The removable hole cover set forth in claim 7 wherein said body and said top cover are formed of an integral one piece molded plastic unit.
 9. For use in combination with a golf hole having a generally cylindrical housing set into a green surface to form an upwardly open golf hole for receiving a ball, a removable hole cover comprising; a downwardly extending body sized and shaped to be receivable into a golf hole; and a top cover defining a top surface joined to said body and having an outer edge extending beyond said body, said removable hole cover being receivable upon a golf hole such that said body is received within the generally cylindrical housing thereof and said top cover rests upon and covers the upwardly open golf hole. 